Juche has developed from Stalinism and the teachings of Kim Il-sung; it is often confused with Stalinism proper, despite important differences.

Juche has been promoted by the North Korean government and educational system since the term was first used in a 1955 speech by Kim Il Sung.

Juche was first conceived at a time when the USSR and China were vying for influence over North Korea's internal affairs; many historians view the emergence of Juche as Kim Il Sung's way of continually reasserting the state's independence.

Juche is the only government-authorized ideology in North Korea, to the point of excluding all other religions.

Juche began in the 1950s and is the official philosophy promulgated by the North Korean government and educational system.

While we recognize there may be validity in continued classification of Juche as a highly "heretical" subset of Communism or general secularism, it seems that, on balance, to do so today is no more accurate than continuing to classify Buddhism as a Hindu sect.